Marines Face Rape Charges In Quebec

May 16, 1993|By The Washington Post

QUEBEC CITY — Two summers ago, tens of thousands of people flocked to the old port of Quebec City to see the Norfolk-based helicopter carrier USS Guam, fresh from service in the Persian Gulf War, when it moored here for a few days of neighborly goodwill.

One visitor was a 12-year-old girl, who, on Aug. 16, 1991, the night before the Guam was to sail, told police she had been befriended by four Marines that evening. They talked briefly - she spoke only French and they English - and took a walk to the Plains of Abraham, a park along the water. There, she said, she was raped.

This week, four Marines were put on trial in a provincial court in a case of intense interest here. Many Quebecers seem to view the case as part of what they perceive as a pattern of sexually violent incidents in the U.S. military, such as the Tailhook scandal.

Marine Sgt. Leonard Permell, 27, and Lance Cpls. Clarence Morris, 26, Terry Cobb, 23, and Mark Cunningham, 23, all based at Camp LeJeune, N.C., face 10-year prison terms in Quebec if the judge finds them guilty of sexual assault and ``sexual interference'' with a person under 14, the age of consent in Canada. The plaintiff opted to forgo a jury trial.

The commander of the Guam, Capt. Gary W. Stubbs, and two subordinates testifed about the investigation conducted after Quebec police boarded the ship at 4 a.m. on Aug. 17, and how the Guam turned the suspects over to authorities and set sail for Norfolk.

Judge Maximilian Polak will render his verdict sometime in June. But on Thursday he threw out virtually all of the evidence against the suspects, including statements they gave the morning they were taken into custody and items seized from their lockers.

Polak agreed with the Marines' defense that they had not been properly advised of their rights under Canadian law - the law under which they would be tried.